Okeechobee attempts to ban camping the rail at third annual event

“Nobody likes a railer,”is the common attitude towards the usual group of die hard fans who “camp the rail” all day in anticipation of their favorite headlining act. These people often wake up early (or don’t sleep) on the holy day, wait for the main gates to open, then rush the stage to set up up shop, laying out clothing and tapestries in order to reserve their front spot on the rail. These “railers” are often associated with negativity and consternation.

This is why Okeechobee Music Festival will be taking preventative measures to stamp out railing culture at their third annual event, held March 1-4.

Of course, there are a number of ways to go about reducing the amount of railers at any given festival set. Electric Forest has gotten better each passing year about implementing crowd control methods to prevent excessive rail-riding. At Hulaween, the front of the stage is usually roped off each time The String Cheese Incident was set to perform. But somehow it is Bassnectar fans who get constantly maligned with despicable rail-riding practice — and for good reason, as bass heads have satirized the negative press surrounding the rail riding culture that permeates their community.

The unfortunate inevitability is that aggressive rail-riders are a part of festival culture, according to one Reddit user.

The answer to the problem of rail-riding does not lie in increased security. The answer lays in educating festival goers on proper etiquette and mutual respect for others. Cultural problems require cultural solutions, not policing; the burden lays on artists, fans and especially rail riding fans, not the organizers. If you don’t like the culture, change the culture.

if u are a bassnectar fan, please do not camp out at the rails. please love & respect other artists & treat others how u wanna be treated 🙂